Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Every once in a while (well, now in two manuscripts), I have had the character sing to the radio, usually in a way to connect a little more with the setting, but also to put some words in their mouths that subtly impart a message. Naturally, my writer's group comforted me (none of them lawyers) that a publisher would help me get the permissions I need to do this. I'm now thinking of Authonomy or something like that and I realize that I need to get the rights to the lyrics on my own. How do you do that?

Seamus wrote:Every once in a while (well, now in two manuscripts), I have had the character sing to the radio, usually in a way to connect a little more with the setting, but also to put some words in their mouths that subtly impart a message. Naturally, my writer's group comforted me (none of them lawyers) that a publisher would help me get the permissions I need to do this. I'm now thinking of Authonomy or something like that and I realize that I need to get the rights to the lyrics on my own. How do you do that?

Here's a discussion from Absolute Write:

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8231

"When you see song lyrics in a novel it's because the writer obtained permission to use those lyrics, and most likely had to pay for them. The only way to do so is to find the copyright owner, which will often be on the sheet music, and write to them. Gaining written permission, which you will need, can be very expensive."

Here's more:

http://www.justaboutwrite.com/A_Archive ... Prop3.html

Intellectual Property and Its Uses
Part Three: Lyric Reprint Permissions